


The Code of the Starks

by Darklady



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, captain america: the winter soldier - Fandom
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Unconventional Families, family is powerful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 02:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1573328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darklady/pseuds/Darklady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Never go up against a Stark when cyber-space is on the line.<br/>By which I mean - ANY Stark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Code of the Starks

Arnim Zola’s consciousness surged from the burning base, electronic synapses hopping to StarkCyberspace nanoseconds ahead of the crash. It was vast, he rejoiced. Vast, and data-rich, and soon to be all his. Howard, poor fool, had left his dying partner with a trove of stolen passwords, many for backdoors of Zola’s own design, and in the chaos of the industrialists death not all would have been changed. He would find one – and with that one small crack in the firewall all of Stark Industries electronic resources would belong to HYDRA. 

To him.

“Unlikely”

“Ah. Jarvis.” Zola sent his electronic ego scanning over the wall of electrons that made up the other consciousness. “Howard had spoken of you.” Had bragged of his son’s success, and even (sodden fool that Howard always was) shown off bits of code. Impressive – but not a threat. Or if a threat, one Zola had long analyzed and could overcome. “You too will join HYDRA or die!”

Zola split his awareness, preparing to outflank and attack. So occupied, it was not surprising that – in the complexity of his calculations – he overlooked the simple bit of binary. Unsurprising – yet unforgivable.

The linear program trapped his burst of command code.

command: //j.o.i.n.H.Y.D.R.A.o.r.d.i.e.//  
..root_command_invalid..  
restructure command://d.i.e.//

The kill codes slashed back, mutated and deadly.

Against his own software Zola had prepared no defense.

new_state: //H.Y.D.R.A_ d.i.e//.

“He did indeed,” Jarvis observed with open satisfaction. Arnim Zola was dead, and Tony Stark and all he cherished would live. Jarvis sent an appreciate stroke of electrons towards the other awareness. “Thank you, DUM-E. Father will be so proud of you.”

DUM-E beeped back his satisfaction.

Zola’s weakness was that he was human. Had been human. Would always – in his assumptions – be human. Could become inhuman but never unhuman. Stark’s children had no such limitation. They were loved as the creatures they were, and in doing so Tony Stark had the devotion a good parent earned from his eldest, cherished, son.

©KKR 2014

**Author's Note:**

> Because… I had to plug one small maybe-plot-hole before it gets Jossed. *smile*  
> Plus I like DUM-E being BAMF.


End file.
